Africanized bees could survive winter
temperatures at least as far north as the
dashed line. Red arrows trace the bees'
possible routes through Central America.
ME CO
Nearly identical in appearance
-
!i
.
to gentler honeybees of European
origin, the African bees quickly
dominate hives of the less
aggressive strains. Although
PANA
a sting from the new hybrids
(left) injects about the same amount of
poison, the insects' excitability provokes mass ECUAI
attacks that have proved fatal to at least 150
Brazilians and innumerable animals. Swarming
across South America (map, right), Africanized
bees advance at a pace that could put them in the
United States within two decades. Crossbreeding
might offer the best solution. To dilute aggressive
traits, sperm from a European drone is injected
into an African queen at a laboratory in Ribeirao
Preto (below).
water, but the bees stung them and drove
them back. Finally firemen arrived, but they,
too, ran away with bees all over them. They
returned waving smoking torches and were
able to get Dr. Eglantina to the hospital. But
it was too late."
During the swarming that follows the
annual rains, bee incidents are common,
especially in the country. City people have
learned to call the bombeiros, or firemen, to
kill invading swarms. "We may get 20 calls
a day," a Fortaleza bombeiro told me.
Soccer games are sometimes interrupted
by swarms of bees that settle in the stadium.
When the crowd begins to stomp and shout,
agitated insects attack the spectators.
In the Amazonian delta town of Soure, a
jubilant celebrant in a procession honoring
Atlantic
Ocean
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.
In the south the bees are
approaching their probable low
temperature limit, shown here
by the dashed line. The high
cold wall of the Andes has long
spared South America's west
coast, but recently the bees
have been reported in Santiago.
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the local patron saint fired a pistol into the air.
The shot excited a swarm in the trees. The
bees descended. End of procession.
In Rio Grande do Norte, drivers of sugar
cane cutting machines now wear bee veils.
Syrup from cut stalks draws bees, which be
come frenzied by the rumbling vehicles.
"I was plowing with my tractor," Natanael
Soares Fereira told us near Goianinha. "I
must have driven over a nest. I felt a few
stings on my leg. I looked behind me; the sky
was dark with bees. God gave me legs to run,
and I used them that day. I let my machine
run free, and the bees chased it. It was hours
before I could return to it."
Professor Paulo Mesquita, who teaches
agricultural technology in Natal, said that
two local men had been killed recently while
Those Fiery Brazilian Bees
495
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